1906 National League Debuts

Willie Mays played his first Major League game on May 25, 1951, and went 0-for-5 at the plate. He started his career 1-for-25 and told his manager, "I can't do it, Mr. Leo. You better bench me."

Casey Stengel played his first Major League game on July 27, 1912, and went 4-for-4 at the plate. He commented later in his life, "I broke in with four hits and the writers promptly decided they had seen the new Ty Cobb. It took me only a few days to correct that impression."

Both Mays and Stengel would continue their Major League careers down separate paths of greatness, but each still had to appear in that memorable first Major League game. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present what Cubs broadcaster Steve Stone once described as, "His first Major League debut."
"There is no Major League record held by a rookie. It's revealing to see just how far the rookie marks are below the single season marks. This is a testament to how difficult the game is to learn and play." - Luke Salisbury in The Answer is Baseball (1989)
National League Debuts

1906

n/a Johnny Bates 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-12-1906 23
n/a Sam Brown 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-21-1906 27
n/a Jack Cameron 1906 Boston Beaneaters 09-13-1906 21
n/a Gene Good 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-12-1906 23
n/a Vive Lindaman 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-14-1906 28
n/a Tommy Madden 1906 Boston Beaneaters 09-10-1906 23
n/a Bill McCarthy 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-21-1906 24
n/a Jim Moroney 1906 Boston Beaneaters 04-24-1906 22
n/a Jack Schulte 1906 Boston Beaneaters 08-19-1906 24
n/a Chet Spencer 1906 Boston Beaneaters 08-22-1906 23
n/a Roy Witherup 1906 Boston Beaneaters 05-14-1906 19
n/a Whitey Alperman 1906 Brooklyn Superbas 04-13-1906 26
n/a Hub Knolls 1906 Brooklyn Superbas 05-01-1906 22
n/a Jim Pastorius 1906 Brooklyn Superbas 04-15-1906 24
n/a Phil Reardon 1906 Brooklyn Superbas 09-19-1906 25
n/a Fred Beebe 1906 Chicago Cubs 04-17-1906 26
n/a Tom Walsh 1906 Chicago Cubs 08-15-1906 21
n/a Snake Deal 1906 Cincinnati Reds 07-09-1906 27
n/a Carl Druhot 1906 Cincinnati Reds 04-18-1906 23
n/a Bill Essick 1906 Cincinnati Reds 09-12-1906 24
n/a Leo Hafford 1906 Cincinnati Reds 04-15-1906 22
n/a Charley Hall 1906 Cincinnati Reds 07-12-1906 21
n/a Frank Jude 1906 Cincinnati Reds 07-09-1906 21
n/a Oscar Stanage 1906 Cincinnati Reds 05-19-1906 23
n/a Eddie Tiemeyer 1906 Cincinnati Reds 08-19-1906 21
n/a Frank Burke 1906 New York Giants 09-14-1906 26
n/a Cecil Ferguson 1906 New York Giants 04-19-1906 22
n/a Matty Fitzgerald 1906 New York Giants 09-15-1906 26
n/a Henry Mathewson 1906 New York Giants 09-28-1906 19
n/a Ches Crist 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 05-18-1906 24
n/a Jerry Donovan 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 04-12-1906 29
n/a Harry Huston 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 09-03-1906 22
n/a John McCloskey 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 05-03-1906 23
n/a Walter Moser 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 09-03-1906 25
n/a Lew Richie 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 05-08-1906 22
n/a Charlie Roy 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 06-27-1906 22
n/a Paul Sentell 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 04-12-1906 26
n/a Joe Ward 1906 Philadelphia Phillies 04-24-1906 21
n/a Bill Abstein 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-25-1906 23
n/a Ed Karger 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-15-1906 22
n/a Lou Manske 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 08-31-1906 22
n/a Bert Maxwell 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-12-1906 19
n/a Irish McIlveen 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 07-04-1906 25
n/a Dutch Meier 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 05-12-1906 27
n/a Joe Nealon 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 04-12-1906 21
n/a Alan Storke 1906 Pittsburgh Pirates 09-24-1906 21
n/a Babe Adams 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1906 23
n/a Pug Bennett 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 04-12-1906 32
n/a Al Burch 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 06-19-1906 22
n/a Forrest Crawford 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 07-30-1906 25
n/a Art Fromme 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 09-14-1906 23
n/a Irv Higginbotham 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 08-11-1906 24
n/a Ed Holly 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 07-18-1906 27
n/a Ducky Holmes 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 04-18-1906 22
n/a Stoney McGlynn 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 09-20-1906 34
n/a Red Murray 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 06-16-1906 22
n/a Tom O'Hara 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 09-19-1906 26
n/a Charlie Rhodes 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 07-26-1906 21
n/a Eddie Zimmerman 1906 St. Louis Cardinals 09-29-1906 23
1906 National League Debuts


 

Find out which players bid farewell to their field's of dreams in the National League during the 1906 season as this group of players made their Major League debut!

Five-for-five debuts? Believe it or not it has happened twice: On June 30, 1894 Fred Clarke of the Louisville Colonels and on May 16, 1933, Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators made their Major League debuts and both went five-for-five at the plate.

On the final day of the 1930 season, Dizzy Dean was called up and pitched a three-hitter. In Spring Training the following year, Dean had a fight with catcher Gabby Street and the franchise left him in the Minor Leagues all season long.
     

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